ZIP 60451 vs ZIP 60433

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60451 (New Lenox, IL) and ZIP 60433 (Joliet, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60451 has a population of 34,063 at 513 people per square mile, while ZIP 60433 has 17,160 at 515 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 60451 reports a median household income of $137,404 against $66,515 in ZIP 60433, with per-capita income of $51,654 vs $29,887. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.5% in 60451 and 13.7% in 60433. Poverty rate reads 2.4% vs 18.2%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 7.2% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $393,100 in 60451 versus $172,300 in 60433, with median rent of $1,505 and $1,357 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.1% vs 64.1%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.